Club Engagement Process

IRFU Club Engagement Report

The IRFU, in conjunction with the four provincial branches, set out to meet with its member clubs to listen to the challenges facing Irish club rugby.

Throughout the whole process, 94% of all clubs in Ireland engaged in the initiative through 42 individual meetings convened in 21 different venues across Ireland.

The meetings provided an ideal opportunity for the IRFU to communicate the state and structure of the game and to share information on how revenue is generated and subsequently distributed for the development of rugby.

It also allowed the club representatives the opportunity to ask direct questions and to convey their concerns to the IRFU.

As well as the engagement meetings, independent research was commissioned to provide an overall picture of where the game rests in the fabric of modern Ireland.

The research, by Millward Brown Lansdowne, was directed at participants not actively involved in the game and produced results that demonstrated the increased interest in the game.

IRFU Director of Rugby Development and the Club Game, Scott Walker, who facilitated and attended all of the meetings, said: "What was encouraging from the very first meeting was the number of committed and passionate volunteers who were prepared to meet and discuss the issues facing Irish club rugby.

"All of the 42 meetings were open forums to discuss whatever people felt was important to the future of the sport at club level. A range of issues were put on the table in full and sometimes heated discussions, but I believe everybody left each meeting with a better understanding.

"What originally started as a desire to communicate directly with the clubs has furnished the IRFU with invaluable information to allow us to tackle these issues.

After a weekend of great drama in the GUINNESS PRO14, the battle to reach the play-offs has reached a fierce intensity. Glasgow Warriors have secured their place in the PRO14 final series thanks to their record-setting pace which has returned 65 points in their first 15 games - beating the previous best mark of 58 after 15 rounds.